GENERATING OPTIMAL CONFIGURATIONS IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN USING SIMULATED ANNEALING

This paper presents a combinatorial optimization procedure based on the simulated annealing approach for generation of optimal con guration of structural members. The work is based on altering the nite element model of structure by removing or restoring elements to minimize the material use subject to constraints on maximum stress value and maintenance of connectivity between elements. Such an optimization problem is categorized as a large-scale, non-convex and non-linear problem. Thus, the problem can have multi-minima and it is important to nd the global optimum solution as opposed to a local minimization. To improve the computational e ciency, the non-linear shape optimization problem has been linearized and to account for the di erence between the non-linear and the linearized values a correction factor is implemented. To illustrate the approach, several design examples are presented and the e ect of the parameter of the simulated annealing on the nal con guration design is examined.